00:00And we have big breaking news coming in right now.
00:03Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Donald Trump, could they be meeting soon?
00:08And that too in Kuala Lumpur.
00:09It seems Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump may meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur,
00:19which is being held later this month.
00:22Now, Prime Minister Modi is definitely scheduled to travel to Malaysia for the 47th ASEAN summit.
00:27Now, that will be on October 26th and 27th.
00:32Now, Malaysia has also invited President Donald Trump to attend the ASEAN summit.
00:38The big question is, if President Donald Trump travels to Malaysia, if he chooses to make that travel and that trip,
00:46this would be first multilateral meeting where both the leaders will be participating
00:53after 50% tariffs were imposed against India and since they came into force.
01:00This will be a very, very crucial meeting where the two leaders might come face to face.
01:08Now, Trump and Prime Minister Modi could not meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada between 15th to 17th of June.
01:17Earlier this year, remember, Trump had to fly back early.
01:21There was an imminent attack on Iran that he was planning for.
01:25Of course, at that time, it was not clear why he had left early.
01:29But the meeting that was scheduled between Trump and Modi at that point of time was then later turned into a phone call.
01:39This was during the G7 summit.
01:41So, the two leaders could not meet at that point of time.
01:45And the meeting between these two leaders is extremely crucial for both those countries.
01:50India is currently trying to minimize the impact of the tariffs and the penalty that Trump and his government has imposed on India.
02:02Whereas Trump also seeks support from India as far as his many plans are concerned,
02:08whether they are the Gaza peace plans or the Ukraine peace deal,
02:13India will be playing a crucial role in all of these things.
02:17Joining us now is Pranay Upadhyay of the India Today Global.
02:23Pranay, tell us, this is extremely important.
02:26If the two leaders actually meet, this would be a huge deal for both the leaders as well as the countries.
02:33Indeed, Anjali, this is going to be big if both the leaders attend the ASEAN summit
02:37because the Malaysian side is yet to get the confirmation from the White House.
02:41But there is a possibility because the invitation has already been extended to the White House
02:46for U.S. President Donald Trump's participation at the ASEAN summit.
02:50The 47th ASEAN summit is being held in Kuala Lumpur.
02:53Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled to visit ASEAN for the India ASEAN summit
02:58as well as the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur on 26th and 27th of October 2025.
03:05And then there is a possibility of both these leaders if they are there on the ASEAN summit on the sidelines
03:11because we have seen that, you know, whenever both the leaders of India and United States
03:16participated in the multilateral meeting, they always took a chance.
03:20They always, you know, had either a pull-aside meeting or some bilateral meeting.
03:24There is always an engagement.
03:25So there is a possibility, there is a likelihood.
03:27And if that meeting happens, this is going to be a big meeting
03:29because post-Operation Sindur, post-tariff standoff,
03:33this is going to be a first window of, a first opportunity of both these leaders
03:37to come face-to-face, have an engagement
03:39because both these leaders have recognized their, you know,
03:42each other's contribution in building up the relationship.
03:45Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump had praised each other,
03:49you know, via social media.
03:51There has been a phone call as well.
03:53U.S. President Donald Trump called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi
03:56on 16th of September on the eve of Prime Minister Modi's birthday
03:59and congratulated him, wished him a birthday wish.
04:03And therefore, this is going to be the first opportunity to come face-to-face
04:07and talk out and iron out the differences
04:10as far as the mutual, the bilateral ties are concerned, Anjali.
04:14Thank you very much for those details, Pranay.
04:16So it will be interesting to see whether Trump accepts that invitation
04:21because earlier we have seen him targeting BRICS and other Asian organizations.
04:26So it seems Prime Minister Modi and Donald Trump could be meeting
04:40and this meeting could happen on the sidelines of ASEAN summit
04:45which is supposed to be held in Kuala Lumpur.
04:48Remember, they were earlier meant to meet at the G7 summit
04:53but that meeting could not materialize as Donald Trump had to fly back early
04:59but they did have a phone call at that point of time between the two leaders.
05:03But despite all the efforts from India's side
05:06and from the negotiating team of America,
05:09it seemed India was targeted with tariffs
05:12and not just tariffs but also a penalty for buying the Russian oil and energy.
05:18And now, could this be a possibility for Prime Minister Modi and Donald Trump
05:25to meet, reconnect, rekindle the relationship they had
05:29and maybe there might be some change in the relationship and trade between the two countries.
05:36Joining me once again is Pranay Upathiai of India Today Global.
05:40Pranay, you know, Trump is not very sympathetic towards organizations
05:47that talk about the furthering of interest of South Asian countries
05:52or for that matter, Asia.
05:53In fact, he has targeted BRICS again and again,
05:56said that they want to replace dollar
05:58and he has said that BRICS shouldn't be there.
06:01Do you think ASEAN is something that would be on his radar
06:05or he would be happy to attend a summit like ASEAN
06:09because he does want to extend his influence,
06:13his personal influence all over the Asian continent as well?
06:20Anjali, there are two, three important arguments
06:22to support the possibility of President Donald Trump
06:24visiting East Asia, South Asia for the ASEAN summit.
06:28One, President Donald Trump has given importance,
06:31he gives importance to the Indo-Pacific policy,
06:34India, Indo-Pacific policy as well as
06:37he has already worked out the bilateral FTAs
06:40or bilateral agreements, the trade agreements
06:43with ASEAN countries.
06:44If you see the example of Vietnam,
06:47the country with whom U.S. entered among the first countries
06:51to have a tariff or a trade arrangement with the United States.
06:54Besides that, he has already done, you know,
06:56trade agreements with Indonesia
06:58after much of back and forth.
07:01And with the other countries as well,
07:02beat Cambodia, beat Thailand, beat, you know, Malaysia.
07:05All these countries have already worked out
07:07the tariff arrangements with the United States.
07:09And there is a possibility of President Donald Trump
07:12coming to East Asia because he thinks
07:15that this is another region which he hasn't,
07:17you know, visited in a while.
07:20And also, too, if he has to counter the Chinese influence,
07:24if he has to counter the Chinese, you know,
07:27area of, penetrating the area of influence of China,
07:30ASEAN summit or the ASEAN region is the area
07:33or region of prominence for the United States
07:35as far as the Indo-Pacific policy is concerned.
07:37Now, if there is a meeting between Prime Minister Modi
07:42and President Donald Trump,
07:43we are yet to see, we do not know as yet
07:45because there is a possibility, there is a window
07:47and both the leaders will try and capitalize this window
07:51to work out their differences
07:52because this meeting, this, you know,
07:55this event, ASEAN summit comes
07:57at a very crucial juncture
07:58because the deadline set for the bilateral trade agreement
08:01which is the fall of 2025 is also due to expire.
08:04So, there is a possibility where both leaders
08:07sit across each, you know, with each other
08:10and work out the differences
08:12and how to take forward
08:13because, remember, President Donald Trump
08:15has posted on social media
08:16saying that very soon,
08:18India and United States are going to conclude
08:20the bilateral trade agreement.
08:23Absolutely.
08:24And it is important for the two countries
08:26to work on this
08:27because it damages the interests of both the countries.
08:30Thank you very much, Pranay,
08:31for this news update.
08:34So, it seems there is a possibility
08:36that Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi would meet
08:39and all eyes would be on this meeting.
08:42If this meeting happens,
08:43it could be crucial for India's,
08:46the tariffs that have been imposed on India.
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